


A Wish Fulfilled

by Falkyns_Flight



Category: Forgotton Anne (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Manipulation, Gen, Slow Build, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-07
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2020-06-24 06:06:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19717750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Falkyns_Flight/pseuds/Falkyns_Flight
Summary: A choice between personal death and the death of everyone you love is not a choice. Anne is paralyzed, unable to decide. Desperate she makes a wish, not unlike the one her master made. The Guardian grants her wish, but as with all wishes, it comes with a price. Hopefully, her wish will not end with the forgotling world in a worse state than before.





	1. Timelessness

It had been hours since she had picked up the Arca. Or at least, she assumed it had been hours. It could have been seconds, or years. Time around her didn’t move, leaving her hopelessly confused. But she wasn’t focusing on the time nearly as much as the decision that was slowly breaking her. 

She had felt herself crystallizing without the Arca, she knew that if she gave it up as the guardian wanted, she would… be gone. In her place a crystal with an image of her inside. 

She wasn’t ready to go. She had only lived eighteen years, which was at the end of most Forgotlings lifespans. Boku had told her once that at most, a forgotling only lived to be twenty. As a human forgotling, it meant that she would never reach adulthood without the Arca. 

But she couldn’t choose the bridge. Everything she had learned, everything she had done over the last few days went against that choice. 

She sat down next to Fig, closed her eyes and leaned against his wooden body. She wanted to talk to him, ask him what he thought. His kindness, his patience, she needed those things right now. But he was still frozen, grieving over the loss of Bulb. The forgotling tended toward radicalism, yes, but he was still Fig’s friend. Across from them, her master lay on his stomach, staring blankly at them. She wasn’t sure how she saw him anymore. She had believed everything he had told her, clung to his words of praise and love. His admonishments. His reminders that they didn’t belong there. His insistence that taking the Anima from Forgotlings was only returning them back to their natural state. 

Despite it all, she still loved him. The love was confused and filled with a mix of other emotions but it was still there. 

“Fig… I don’t want to crystallize, I don’t want to… I don’t want to die,” tears dribbled from her eyes, only to freeze and evaporate into the air. Her friend did not reply. He wasn’t even aware she needed him. She had asked him to come, unable to go alone. Now here she was, alone anyway. 

Everything hurt. 

_I am sorry Anne, but these are your choices. I have given you time to make them, but perhaps that was wrong of me._ The Guardian said. It was her first time speaking since she had asked Anne to choose. 

Anne closed her eyes. A complex feeling filled her. She couldn’t put the emotion into words, but it was all-consuming. 

_A wish?_

Had the guardian just spoken again? Had she imagined it? Swallowing the lump in her throat Anne stood, swaying slightly. She felt lightheaded and sick at the same time. 

_Do you truly intend this? To become a better person? To change who you are? To Repent?_

Anne looked back towards the stone, the one that was the representation of the guardian herself. The feeling was beginning to take shape in her mind. A wish. Yes, that was what it was. She wanted this… so badly. A chance to improve upon her life. A few days wasn’t enough for real, permanent change. Yes, she had resurrected those distilled forgotlings, even Dilly who she had distilled in her house. 

But it wouldn’t undo the hundreds or even thousands of other forgotlings she had distilled for having a different opinion to hers. 

The scene hadn’t changed, but Anne felt something shift. 

_Very well then. I will take another risk. I was the one who answered Boku’s wish. I can answer yours. But at a price._

“What do you mean? What price?” Anne asked. She hadn’t agreed to anything yet. 

But wasn’t this better than either of the other options provided to her?

_I can grant your wish, but I do not have control over how it plays out, or what consequences you will suffer. Bonku forgot how he suffered in the human world, and as such the desire to return became all-consuming. If I grant this wish, you will pay a price of equal value. Do you still desire this path? If the world suffers, realize it will be because of your choice._

Ann looked down at her hands. The two Arcas glinted in the pale light, tantalizing promises reflected back in the thin blue crystal rings. 

There really wasn’t any other choice. 

“Then… fulfill my wish,” 

The world swirled around her, the colors and faces blurring into a swirl that she was dragged into. A whirlpool of memory fragments. Bonku, Fig, Tiphany, and so many others. Each forgotling she had been cruel to or distilled flashed across her mind. Every time she had been kind, or merciful, what few there were, enveloped her in a warm embrace. 

And then it stopped and she was standing in her old room. The familiar smell of oil, metal, and wood filled the air. The familiar warm greens and reds that she had become so comfortable within her day-to-day life. It was perfect. 

On the wooden table in front of her was a set of brand new wings. A pair of wings which hadn’t been brand new in eight years. 

“Do you like them, Anne?” Her eyes flashed upwards and her body reacted. Yelping, she fell to the ground, staring up at her master who suddenly looked a great deal more worried. He stood from his chair, hurrying over to her and held out his hand. Everything was the same, his hair was still blonde but with less white hairs peppered through it, 

“Anne, are you alright? You were so quiet for a moment there…” she didn’t take his hand right away. Instead, she met his eyes. When had he become the person she had faced off against at the plant and the bridge. Could she save him at all? 

Should she even try? 

She took his hand, and Bonku helped her up with that kindly smile she had gotten so used to seeing. How she had missed that smile. 

“I’m fine, I was just… daydreaming about what I could do with wings,” she smiled at the gift and gingerly picked it up. She turned back to Bonku and held it out to him. 

“Help me please,” she asked. Her master was so much taller than her right now, probably because she was only ten years old right now. She had hit her major growth spurt when she was fourteen. It was odd how far away that sounded right now. 

Bonku smiled, the skin around his eyes wrinkling. 

“Of course my dear, please turn around,” he said. Anne turned and closed her eyes. Inside her mind was spinning. She couldn’t allow events to play out the same way, later this year her master would give her a job to do, one she would take on with pride. She would become the enforcer this year. Eight years of distilling and terrorizing Forgotlings. 

But what could she do? She loved her master, so much it hurt. Every day he had reminded her that it was just them, no one else mattered. Even if she did leave, where would she go? She wracked her brain for any ideas. 

The rebels were still around, at this time most likely lead by Bulb. She had too many violent excursions when she had gotten started, and Fig would have never have let Forgotlings under his lead be that violent. Which lead her to the next thought. Fig had helped design the Plant, and he had worked there. She knew he would help her out if she could find him and ask. But that was the problem, the plant was too far for her to make it alone, even when she had been eighteen. Now, at ten? It was impossible. Going to Bulb was a bad idea as well, as anyone who had close connections to Bonku was immediately suspect with that forgotling. 

Which left the final forgotling that she could go to. Blanket. The problem was she had no idea where Blanket was, other than the sewers with the rest of the rebels and getting in there would be… difficult. Once against she was faced with the problem of Bulb. 

The weight of the wings settled on her back. These wings were a lot heavier than the ones that she had become used to as a teenager, and they didn’t retract automatically. They did help her with all the same things as her later wings, but they were harder to manage and didn’t give her as much lift. 

The nostalgia of wearing them hit her like a brick in the face. Her legs almost gave out, but she held steady, opening her eyes with a small gasp. 

“How do they feel?” Bonku asked from behind her. His large hands, dry and rough prickled over her smooth skin as they rested on her shoulders. 

“Heavy,” she replied, the accidental double meaning not slipping by her. How heavy was this burden? The knowledge of her past distillings the crimes she had committed in her master’s name… 

Even though they hadn’t happened in this world yet she remembered everyone. Better than she had before. 

She shuddered as the memory of Heeltoe’s torture flashed through her mind. She had willingly, with no prompting, ripped shreds of anima from his body. She remembered with vivid clarity every shudder of his body, the shaking, and finally the static in his voice when he begged for mercy. 

Was this her price then? 

Best not to think of it for now. 

“They look wonderful Anne, go try them out,” there was warmth in his eyes. 

“I… I’m tired master,” she muttered. Quietly she took the wings off and put them back on the table. 

Then she fled to her room, slamming the door behind her. She barely looked around the comforting environment, instead of throwing herself onto her bed. Sobbing. Everything was so confusing. She had been able to convince herself that Bonku looked at her as a tool just like everyone else, but there had been genuine care in his eyes. She didn't know what to do. She loved him, and he loved her. But he had done terrible things. How could she connect the man she knew and loved, the one who raised her with care and compassion to the man who willingly murdered thousands of forgotlings. The man who taught her to murder them without a care. Without guilt. 

The sobs still came. She couldn't stop. Vaguely she could hear Bonku calling her from the other side of the door, begging for her to come out and tell her what was wrong. 

Somehow she fell asleep, a restless sleep, full of unwanted memories. 


	2. A Decision Made

Anne woke up feeling bittersweet. She was in her old room still, the memories from the future and yesterday swam in her mind. Yesterday had been her second tenth birthday, who would have thought time travel would be so confusing?

She glanced at the nightstand. It was empty other than a book she had been given to read by Bonku. At one time Tink would sit there, but she had’ vanished’ two years ago. 

Even with her wish granted, she couldn’t save everyone. 

Sitting up, she wiped away the remainders of her crying last night. Her pillow was still damp with tears. Sighing, she stretched and stood. Looking around her room, she couldn’t help but smile, even if it was a watery one. A few books that Bonku had allowed her to borrow, odds and ends she had collected, some of her early sketches and stick-figure creations. She closed her eyes, enjoying the rich smell of tea that filled her room. Her room always smelled of tea more than the workshop did. She turned towards the door and froze. 

Her Master was out there, wondering about her strange behaviour. How could she explain it? The simple answer was she couldn’t, there was nothing she could say to him that would make sense. 

Preparing herself, she stepped outside of her door, freezing again. Bonku was asleep in his chair only two feet away from the door. He had tried to wait for her. 

Part of her wanted to turn around right there, or grab her new wings and take off. But she couldn’t. 

Maybe she should try and change him. He had done so much for her. In her past-future, she hadn’t had the time to change his mind, but now maybe she could stop it all. 

She had to try. 

“Master? Master wake up,” she called softly, shaking his arm. He grunted and slowly his eyes opened. 

“Anne?” He asked groggily, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. 

“Yes,” she agreed. She wasn’t sure what else to say. 

“I wanted to apologize, did I upset you last night?” He didn’t move to touch her, his dark eyes bore into her with an intensity she had rarely seen from him. 

“No… yes… no… you didn’t upset me. But Master, I just don’t understand. You keep telling me that forgotlings are just… things. That I can’t become friends with them… that distilling them is natural…” her throat felt like something large and slimy had wedged itself in there and was refusing to let her explain herself. 

“Yes, what is it, Anne?” Bonku asked. He seemed curious. Maybe this would work out after all. She swallowed, the feeling didn’t vanish, but her words came out more smooth this time around.

“I was thinking about Tink, Master. She was my friend. She taught me how to tell time, she woke me up in the morning. I don’t see how someone like that could just be a… a thing. She was special Master, and I… I think most forgotlings are like her-”

“Anne, where are you getting these… odd ideas?” Bonku interrupted. The curiosity was replaced with almost the same expression from last night. Concern. Why was he concerned? She was just trying to make her thoughts clear, there was no reason to get worried for. 

“I was just thinking-”

“How did you come to these conclusions, though? Any feelings of kindness and empathy are simply what you project onto the forgotlings. They are things, Anne, not people. They’re not our kind, they don’t have souls, let alone emotions” he reached for her, but she pulled away. For the longest moment, she stood there, staring at him with his outstretched hand. 

No emotions. No soul? How long had she believed something similar? How long had he believed it? But Fig had proved them both wrong, again, and again. Fig had believed there was good in her, and he even believed that she could change Bonku… why else would he have followed her up that tower? 

Anne swallowed again. Her eyes were stinging. Fig, she wanted him so badly now, if only to hear his voice again. That soothing calm voice that never once became angry, never once wavered in his belief for her, even when she distilled other forgotlings in front of his eyes. 

She really didn’t deserve him, did she? 

“That’s not true! They feel things! They grieve when we distill others, they’re scared of what we can do to them. They even have families-”

“Who told you all this nonsense!? Tell me their name! I’ll make sure whatever thing said that to you will regret ever speaking!” Bonku barked. Anne’s eyes snapped back to her Master’s face. It had gone red, and his hands were clenched into fists. For the first time in her life, Anne felt afraid of Bonku. The man who had raised her looked like he was seconds away from slamming that fist into her. 

“If you do this you’ll just be another thing, like them,” Bonku’s words from when she destroyed the plant rang through her mind. Everything moved into slow motion. Sounds became distorted, vision restricted. The only thing she could see was the sheer fury on his face, the shaking of his hands, the throbbing vein standing out against his temple. 

In her mind, two paths appeared, diverging outwards. In the first, she stayed with Bonku, tried to change things from how they initially been as best she could while still trying to change her Master’s mind. The other,leaving to seek out the rebels and try to help them in their excellent work, maybe even seek out the Guardian again so that her Arca could be given the ability to resurrect forgotlings long before it was supposed to happen. 

She didn’t know which one to choose. This was the world her wish had created… and despite her best efforts, she couldn’t imagine a world where she stayed ending up anywhere else. 

She closed her eyes again. 

“I’m sorry, Anne, I shouldn’t have snapped at you. I just am worried that a forgotlings has been filling your head with lies,” 

“How is the plant coming along?” She asked softly, unable to open her eyes, to look at her Master’s face. The change in topic was necessary, if she bent now, she might not be able to stick to the plan forming in her mind.

“The plant? We finished it a little while ago and are working on connecting its energy to the city and the workshop. What does that have to do with anything, Anne?” 

So the plant was already finished. Had Fig gone rebel already? Or was he still working for Bonku? She had no idea. But she wasn’t going to wait around until she was sure. 

“Would you… would you ever accept forgotlings as people?” She asked, hoping beyond hope that he would give her the answer she wanted from him. 

“They’re not people Anne, it has nothing to do with accepting them. It’s just the way of life. It’s why we need to be with our own people,” Bonku said.

She opened her eyes. Bonku looked confused, staring at her like she was some complex puzzle that he had to solve. 

“Then I need to go,” the words were out before she planned them. She walked past Bonku who watched her, unaware of what was going through her mind. Unaware of how her heart was shattering into pieces. 

She moved to pick up her wings, but Bonku blocked her way. 

“Anne, I don’t understand what’s going on? Talk to me, Anne,” his words were pleading, and when she looked at his face, she saw so much. Confusion, worry, fear. 

Anne moved around him and grabbed her wings, fasting them by herself, something that she hadn’t been able to do initially at this age. 

“I… I need some time… alone,” she replied, tears starting to leak from her eyes again. 

“I love you, master Bonku,” she added. 

“Anne, don’t do this. Anne. Anne!” But she was fleeing, running away from his voice, down the stairs and outside. She could hear him chasing after her, but she couldn’t look at him again. Her resolve would break. As it was, tears streamed from her eyes. 

She pulled herself up on a rail and leapt off. 

These wings required manual control, but she had never been afraid of heights, and the feeling of falling usually filled her with adrenaline. 

The sound of the wind whipped away the calls of Master Bonku until they became silent. For a moment, she thought about not engaging her wings, just falling to the ground. But she had things to do, and broken bones would only create more problems. 

She engaged the wings, pulling on the lever. They snapped open, the air catching under the thick fabric and slowing her fall. 

She landed with a roll, her back arched uncomfortably to make room for the wings. They were more delicate than the metal ones that she would have been given later in life, but they would have to do. 


	3. Meeting a Stranger

Fig stared solemnly at the Power plant, a heavy sorrow in his heart. He couldn’t be here, he couldn’t work here any longer. 

It hurt, profoundly piercing some part of him that he hadn’t known existed until recently. When he had first arrived here, he had believed Bonku. He had trusted the man. He had naively thought that everything he did was truly in the best interests of all Forgotlings. 

How could he have been so blind? 

He turned and walked away, throwing his validation sticker to one side. 

He wasn’t sure how long he had walked for, his mind caught in some strange stupor that it was unable to break free of. How many Forgotlings had died at his hand? And for what? Lightbulbs? Projectors? Distillers? The chance to return to the Either? 

Were any of those things worth it? 

Eventually, he stumbled into Bygone park. Around him, tall crystals glittered, reaching for the sky. Monuments of Forgotlings of ages past. The sight was beautiful. 

But how many Forgotlings had he denied the ability to live life and crystallize in peace? 

He was distracted by the sounds of sobbing around one of the larger crystals. Pausing, he looked around, trying to see if anyone else was nearby. But he was alone. 

Despite, or perhaps it was because of his own pain, he moved around the crystal. He froze, shocked to the very core of his being. 

A human girl sat curled up against the green ripples of a crystal. She was wearing a blue dress, and her orange hair was pulled into a short braid. He couldn’t see her face, as it was buried in her knees, her arms wrapped around her head as an extra layer of protection. 

There were only two humans in the realm of the Forgotten, Bonku and his apprentice, Anne. This must have been Anne then, the little girl that Bonku had mentioned once. He had said that one day, Anne would help him destroy the rebels. After all, she had an Arca, just like Bonku. 

But right now, she was just a little girl. 

“Are you alright? Anne?” He asked. The girl jerked, her head snapping up sharply. They both froze, staring at each other. Anne’s eyes were a beautiful shade of blue. The colour of the sky in the Either. Pale, beautiful, and bright. 

“Fig,” she said. Fig froze. What? How did she- 

He was unable to finish her thoughts as Anne threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his waist and squeezing tight. Her tears seemed to slow some as she whispered into his side. 

“I’m so, so sorry. I couldn’t do it,” 

(earlier) 

Anne collapsed into the ash-covered ground, panting. Her body was nowhere near the physical prime that it was when she was eighteen. Gasping, she rolled onto her side. Her legs were screaming in pain, and her sides and lungs ached. 

And she still had miles to go before she made it to the city. She had been forced to take a detour away from the train station as Pax would undeniably report her to Bonku. Maybe if it had been later in the timeline, she would have risked Pax, but currently, she had no reason to believe that his loyalty had wavered at this point. 

She was currently in Bygone park, she and Bonku had walked through the area often. It was here he would draw her attention to the differences between their world and the world of the forgotton. He described trees, grass, birds, everything beautiful about the Ether that they didn’t have here. And she had longed for it desperately, a world of beauty she knew now she would never see. 

The park was mostly barren, the same ash that covered the ground everywhere was just as prevalent here. Benches were lining the single strip of paved land. Large crystal formations rose into the sky, their green glow casting the park in shifting shades of green. 

The familiar ache of longing for the Ether reappeared. She shoved it aside and forced herself to stand. 

There were disadvantages to being a human, one of them was stamina. Forgotlings didn’t grow physically tired in the same way humans did, at least what little experience she had to compare made it seem that way. Either that or Fig was some sort of superior forgotling… but those thoughts were just as dangerous as Bonku’s words.

She began walking, trying to ignore the phantoms of past memories dancing around her. 

The large crystal shaped like a tidal wave with darker circles of green was where Bonku had sat her down and described trees and flowers to her. She still couldn’t imagine flowers, but now at least she had seen trees and grass through the Ether bridge while it was activated. If only Bonku has described grass as tiny green crystals that are soft and move like fabric, maybe she would have understood the concept better. 

Just thinking that made her pause. She was so isolated from the Ether that she had no real concept… almost anything

Maybe she shouldn’t have taken this route, it was becoming torturous. 

Anne fixed her eyes on the path, deciding not to look around. She couldn’t, the memories were too much. 

Just focus on what’s ahead, Anne, she told herself when it gets late to find a place for the night, and go from there. 

The thought was far more terrifying than she had realized. Anne had never slept outside the tower, the only exception being Blanket and Fig’s place, and even then, she hadn’t willingly chosen that place the first time. 

Something caught her foot. Yelping, Anne lost her balance and dropped to the ground. She felt tears welling up in her eyes, but she sat up and shoved them away with the heel of a hand. She had cried too much over the last few days. 

She glanced at the object that she had tripped over. A section of broken crystal that had fallen off one of the massive formations and landed in the path. 

Frustration, anger, and sadness so deep that she  _ ached  _ struck her all at once. She threw her head up and keened, the cry turning into a wail. There were too many emotions inside her. She wanted to return to her master. The man who had been there to catch her when she fell. The man who taught her how to draw and sketch. 

The man who had demanded she kill. 

She stood, staggering to a large crystal and curling up against it. She buried her face in her skirt as she continued to cry. All her emotions came pouring out through her eyes and mouth. 

Never before in her life had Anne cried like this, with her mouth wide and gasping, strangled sobs pouring from her throat as her chest tightened. Desperate for air she gasped, before pouring herself into her tears again. 

“Are you alright? Anne?” That voice. It couldn’t be, Anne’s head snapped up. She couldn’t believe her eyes. 

“Fig,” she said. He was here. Fig was here, her best friend. The first person who had suggested she could be what  _ she _ wanted. The first person to tell her the truth. His kindness, his patience. There was no one else like him. 

She threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around him. The comfort of feeling the soft wood soothed the aches in her chest. Even as she hiccuped, and tried to even out her breathing. 

“I’m so, so sorry. I couldn’t do it,” Anne whispered. He would have been fine, he and those he loved would have been safe from Bonku if she had just been able to end her own life. But she couldn’t. She wanted to live. 

She wanted a life where she could really get to know him. Where she could laugh and joke with him. Where she could get to know Blanket, and Jinx, and… everyone she had been denied in her last life. 

“It’s okay, whatever you couldn’t do, I forgive you,” Fig said. He sounded confused. Of course, he was confused, he had no idea what she was talking about. He had no idea who she even was at this point. 

Oh. 

He didn’t know her. 

The realization hit Anne like the loss of her wings. Like the pain when the Arca was taken. Like when Blanket had crystallized before Anne even knew her. 

This… this Fig didn’t know her. He hadn’t laughed as she chased him across the rooftops. He hadn’t patiently explained that Forgotlings were living beings worthy of life. 

This was Fig, in so many ways. But this wasn’t her Fig. Not yet, anyway. 

She truly was alone. 

Fig must have seen the look on her face because he put one of his hands on her shoulder, looking at her seriously. 

“It’s alright-” he begins to say, but she cuts him off with a wave of her hand. He has no idea just how not right this whole situation is. It’s not his fault, of course, but that doesn’t change the pain. 

“I can’t go back,” she finds herself saying instead, “I can’t ever go home again,” 

“I’m sure whatever happened between you and Bonku can be resolved if you just talk it out. You’re his daughter,” Fig says. 

Is that why Fig spent so much time with her? Because she was Bonku’s daughter? Did he believe that her words would be enough to change her master’s mind? It seemed laughable. 

“No, it can’t. He wants me to distill anyone who disobeys him,” the words were beginning to pour from Anne's mouth. 

“He wants me to stop the rebels, to distill them all. To torture them for information,” Heeltoe flashed across her mind again. He hadn’t been the only Forgotling she’d tortured in her eight years as the enforcer, but he was the most recent, and the memory was the freshest. 

Fig didn’t seem to know what to say about the information that she was giving him. He had pulled away slightly when she had said distill, and now he was leaning away from her. A mix of confusion, pity, and deep sadness in his eyes. 

Then he seemed to shake himself and put on that brilliant smile of his. 

“Well, we can’t be having you out here on your own, can we? How about you come with me? I’m sure we can find someplace to stay while we try to figure this out,” he held out his hand. Anne took it, realizing now just how much smaller she was. Eight years did a lot for one’s growth. 

Eight years, she now had eight years to live. Eight years to get to do everything she had been denied in her previous life. 

She smiled at Fig, wrapping her hand around the soft wood of his hand. 

  
She was with Fig, everything was going to be fine. 

Together, they would be able to change fate. 


End file.
